Ad infinitum
by Mirage88
Summary: Arthur Kirkland,heir to one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Forced to befriend Alfred Jones heir to a chain of 5 star hotels he doesn't know just how much the American will mess up his life, but that may not be a bad thing. AU USxUK
1. The honourable Kirkland family

_**A/N: Bit of a warning since I couldn't fit it into my summary this is an AU fic and will be Yaoi later on. **_

**Disclaimer**: _**There is a reason its called fanfiction y'know!**_

**Chapter 1**

**The honourable Kirkland family**

* * *

Kirkland house boarding school was famous around the world for being one of the top educational institutes in the modern world. It was founded in 1788 by Lord George Kirkland second cousin once removed to George III the king of England. Only the most elite of English society could attend. It was considered a privilege to be able to attend. Proud nobles would boast about their children attending the most prestigious school in the whole of England.

In 1856 Lord Henry Kirkland, current head of the Kirkland family passed away due to illness. He had no heirs and the only immediate family were his sister Emily Kirkland, Fiancée of Joseph Craven owner of a large and very successful steel factory. Many people were pessimistic at a woman running the school. However the school continued to flourish. When she wed she kept her maiden name stating the Kirkland name must be preserved. Joseph Craven didn't argue, after all her family was richer and far more influential then his could ever hope to be.

In 1974 Lord Richard Kirkland passed away, its was expected that his eldest son Albert would become the new headmaster, however he was currently the owner of a small pharmaceutical company called Kirios and refused to give it up, so the task of running the school fell to his younger brother James. Albert was a cunning and ruthless businessman, within five years his company had grown considerably, with outlets all around the country. But it still wasn't enough for him. He made connections with people from various countries, some rumours that went around told of shady dealings and blackmail. But the name Kirkland still held respect, and the rumours never became more than a whisper.

In 1979 he married Harriet Adams, whose father was a well known business entrepreneur. With his backing Kirios continued to grow. Many people called the marriage a political one, stating the only reason Albert married Harriet was to help his company grow, and likewise Harriet's father gained a lot of money and prestige by backing Kirios so it seemed like a win-win situation, for all except Harriet that is. In 1983 Harriet gave birth to a son. He was named Arthur.

In 1985 Harriet died in a tragic accident. At the Kirkland manor, in the entrance hall were a grand set of marble stairs. She slipped going down one day, hitting her head several times on the way down before landing in a heap at the bottom. She was rushed to the hospital but was declared dead en route, the cause of death was of a broken neck. Following her death there were vicious rumours that she was pushed by her husband after a servant claimed she heard them arguing frequently. However the police ruled out foul play and the servant was fired for slander. Not months after she was arrested for drug handling and sentenced to prison where it was revealed she suffered from schizophrenia. After that no more rumours were made.

When Arthur turned eight his father married again. It was stated he never liked his new mother from the start. She was a cold woman who was snobbish and ridiculed anyone who got on her bad side. She gave birth to a boy who they called Peter. Albert was overjoyed at the birth of his second son.

When Arthur turned eleven he was admitted to the Kirkland house boarding school, he soon became one of the top students in his year, and his family received much praise for it.

* * *

It was the eve of his thirteenth birthday and Arthur was sitting alone in his room. He could hear the ballroom music faintly playing downstairs as well as the mindless chatter of the many invited guests. He sat on the large windowsill his forhead pressed against the cold glass a he stared at the dark grounds below. He knew it wasn't proper to stay in his room alone during his own party, and if his father found him he would be in a great deal of trouble. However he just couldn't bring himself to even care. When he was surrounded by other people he had to wear a mask. He had to pretend he was a perfect little Lord who was going to inherit one of the largest companies as well as a very prestigious title as head of one of the oldest most honoured families in Britain. He always had to smile politely and listen to whatever others had to say, no matter what kind of boring drivel they spouted. He had to excel in everything he did, heaven forbid he receive a less than perfect result. He remembered a few years ago during on of his fathers dinner parties he accidentally spilt his drink all over the pristine white tablecloth. His father scowled and made the excuse he wasn't feeling very well and was a bit shaky because of it. Later that night when the last guest left he was punished for embarrassing his father and himself.

He hated having to pretend to be someone he had no desire to be, he felt suffocated. Whenever he was forced to talk to another one of societies snobs it felt like someone was squeezing his throat slowly, as if savouring his suffering. At times he just wished he could run away from it all, cast away the name Kirkland and be someone else. Someone who did what he wanted, said what he wanted and no one would judge him for it.

He was abruptly woken from his thought process at a loud knock on his door. He quickly stood up and told whoever it was to enter.

An elderly woman entered the room and Arthur relaxed somewhat. Emily was the aging head maid and probably the only person Arthur felt he could trust. She had an elegant air about her and held herself up in an almost proud way. Her gray hair was tied back in a messy bun with several locks falling around her weathered face. Her hazel coloured eyes always seemed to glint with a teasing light, as if she knew something about you that even you didn't know.

"Thought I'd find you in here. Your father's starting to ask for you. Oh and what's this? Not even changed tsk tsk tsk young master." Alfred ran his hand through his hair as in irritation.

"Yes I suppose I have been up here longer than I intended too. Very well tell him I shall be down shortly." Emily nodded and bowing as much as her back would allow left the room. Arthur stood there for a moment longer before sighing and walking over to his wardrobe.

He walked into the elegant ballroom and as soon as he did nearly all eyes turned on him. There was a wave of applause and many people walked over to wish him a happy birthday. As soon as he was able to he slipped off to the side and helped himself to some fruit punch. He began to drink it in small sips before his father came over to him.

"Its about time, do you realise how rude it was to keep your guests waiting?"

"I'm sorry father." His father continued to glare at him a few seconds longer.

"Never mind that, there is someone I want you to meet." His father turned on his heel and walked over to the other side of the room with Arthur following close behind.

"Mr Jones this is my son Arthur." His father introduced him to a rather tall man with short blonde hair and a relaxed posture.

"Well hello there son, I've heard much about you." He drawled. Arthur immediately picked up on the American accent the man had. Great another loud obnoxious America to deal with. He had met quite a few in his life and all they seemed to go on about was how great they and their country are.

"Mr Jones son will be attending Kirkland house at the start of next month. I expect you will help make him feel welcome?" His father asked. Arthur knew it wasn't even a question, he would have to show this American brat around no matter what.

"Yes, my son Alfred is looking forward to it, it's a pity he couldn't be here tonight to meet you but he's still back in America while we sort his travel arrangements out." Arthur nodded pretending to be interested.

"Ill be happy to show him around the school, and might I add sir that you've made a great choice of school for you son to attend." A little bit of praise usually did wonders, especially when dealing with people with large egos, such as this American here he guessed.

"Right! I heard its one of the best schools around, and its also one of the most ethnically diverse as well right?"

"That's correct." For the past twenty or so years Kirkland house had gained a number of foreign students attending. Arthur reckoned that pretty much every student was a different nationality. It was certainly a good image for the school. Showing that different cultures could coexist. It also never hurt to make friends with important foreigners kids, his father always droned on about the importance of connections. Arthur wondered what connection this American could offer his father.

"Well it was nice meeting you son, but I'm afraid I gotta go now, have an early flight y'see." His father bade the American goodbye before turning to face his son.

"Mr Jones owns a large chain of five star hotels around the world. He came to England hoping to start a chain here and became impressed with the schooling we have here." Arthur nodded indicating to his father that he was listening. He guessed the man was Earl Jones owner of the Helton arms hotels.

"He was looking for some sponsors, if Kirios sponsors him we'll receive 35% of his profits in the UK." His father continued. So that was why he wanted him to show the American's kid around. It all came down to money, it always did.

"I understand, ill make sure Mr Jones son feels welcome in our country." He said with a slight smile.

"Make sure you do." At this his father left his son and began a conversation with a stuffy looking old man who from the looks of him had drunk far too much wine.

Arthur went and socialised with his guests. He noticed that there were only a handful of other children there. Not that he expected any different. After all the party was just an excuse for his father to strengthen his social connections. He wondered if anyone from his school was here seeing as it was a public holiday and most students would probably be at home.

"Ah if it isn't the little lord." came a familiar condescending voice. Arthur inwardly flinched recognising the voice immediately. He put on a forced smile and turned to greet the 'unwanted' guest.

"Good evening mr Richmond, im glad you could make it." Arthur greeted. The man before him stopped in his tracks, a lofty smirk painted on his ugly face. They both knew that was a lie.

William Richmond one of the head board members at Kirios inc and a man Arthur very much despised. The moment he met Richmond he came to the conclusion he was the smarmiest git he ever had the misfortune to meet. He had a pointed face not unlike a rat, (Arthur even compared him to one on more than one occasion) with beady little black eyes and seemed to always wear a pompous expression on his face. He had joined Kirios roughly when the company first started and soon rose through the ranks to a top position in the company becoming the company Chief Marketing officer. Since he was ranked just below the CEO himself he was sure he was a shoe in for taking over the company, he was less than happy when he found out that Kirkland's sarcastic brat was the heir to the company he was less than happy. He never missed an opportunity to ridicule Arthur. Likewise Arthur never missed an opportunity to ridicule him back.

Yes he truly hated the pompous prick and he knew the feeling was mutual.

"Heard your going to hang out with daddy during the summer, leaning the ropes of corporate life. I wonder, are you really ready to play with the big boys yet?" He drawled. Arthur resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"My father feels I am ready to start learning how to run _his_ company." He made sure to emphasise his, to make it clear to Richmond who was the boss in the end."He has ran Kirios successfully for many years now so surely you don't doubt his judgment now?" If possible Richmonds smirk grew wider.

"Of course not, of course not. I was just concerned for you is all, I wouldn't want to much pressure to be offloaded on one so young."

"Please don't worry about me, in fact I would be more concerned about yourself succumbing to pressure." At this Richmond raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"What do you mean?" He asked intrigued. Arthurs smile became a very sly one before he spoke again.

"The last marketing campaign you held didn't do so well am I right? Father wasn't happy after all he can be quite intolerable when it comes to failure. If I'm not mistaken you were supposed to come up with a new marketing idea but there hasn't seemed to be much progress there either. But I understand, I'm sure its frustrating when your team cant produce good results in time." He sounded arrogant, he knew he did but it was the only way he could knock the prick down a peg or two, after all how could he ridicule Arthur for his inexperience when he couldn't even do his own job properly.

Richmond narrowed his eyes and scowled at the little upstart before composing himself and once again wore that annoying smirk.

"I don't need to explain myself to you, I've already spoke to your father about the matter and he understands. Don't try and understand the workings of a business till your just a bit older, okay?" At this he walked straight pass Arthur.

"Oh and have a nice birthday." He said disdainfully.

Arthur watched him go with an unreadable expression on his face before setting off to socialise some more.

The party lasted till quite late before the guests made their excuses and left one by one. Arthur bade his parents goodnight and headed to his room. On the way there he passed Emily who seemed to be dusting the ornaments in the hallway.

"Quite late to be dusting." He stated. She turned to face him and laughed amusingly.

"But if I go downstairs ill have to help clear the ballroom, too much hard work for an old biddy like me."

"Oh I see. Well be sure not to overexert yourself Mrs Medlock." She laughed some more

"Ohohoho if only I was thirty years younger, no mess would be a match for me!" She exclaimed proudly. Arthur laughed heartily.

"I don't think anything would be a match for you." It was true even at her old age she was a formidable opponent, even Arthur's father knew better than to mess with her.

"Pity there was no people your own age there, I bet it must have been so boring being surrounded by such stuffy old people. But I am impressed, you handle yourself around adults so well. Such a polite young man you are, well when you want to be." Arthur scoffed at this.

"Of course, I am a gentleman after all." Emily laughed even harder.

"That you are young sir, that you are. Now if you'll excuse me I must finish this corridor than its off to bed for me." Arthur bid her goodnight before continuing to his own room in slightly better spirits than before. Emily always cheered him up. He remembered when he was a child she used to tell him amazing stories about fairies and unicorns and other mythical creatures, and he hung onto her every word. He used to spend his whole time coming up with stories about mythical beasts and drawings of fairies. He soon stopped when his father ripped up all his work telling him it was utter nonsense. Later Emily snuck a hand drawn picture of a unicorn under his bed as she was cleaning one day. She told him that her late husband drew it for her and it was her favourite drawing. He tried giving it back stating he couldn't take something so important from her. But she just laughed with that jolly laugh of hers and told him that it was rude to decline a gift especially from a maiden. He made sure to keep the picture hidden in a safe place where no one would be able to find it. It was somewhat thrilling to have something kept secret from his father.

An hour later he was laying in bed staring up at the tall canopy. He was thinking back on his meeting with Mr Jones. His father made clear he was to be friends with his son. He groaned in annoyance before turning on his side.

_Afred Jones huh? Probably going to be your typical loud mouthed American. _

He yawned loudly before drifting off into a deep sleep.

* * *

**A/N: Well here it is my first chaptered story. I was abit nervous using OC's but they are needed for plot purposes im afraid. I've been doing alot of research for other countries cultures, lest all the characters will act like Brits! heaven forbid! So I hope each characters will be realistic, or as realistic as anime characters borrowed and abused by a rabid fangirl can be.**


	2. The American hero

**Chapter 2**

**The America hero**

As a child Alfred F Jones loved comic books. His whole room was littered with action figures and the walls decorated with posters of various heroes. Every day he would wrap a makeshift cape around his shoulders and pretended he was a super hero. His neighbours would frequently look out of their windows to see the young boy tear down the streets shouting.

"Have no fear Allstar is here!" He would then proceed to approach any random person on the street and ask them if they noticed any villains around, or if they had any troubles only a hero would be able to fix.

He was a kind, bright and energetic young boy so needless to say he was quite popular around the neighbourhood.

However his hero antics also caused him trouble from time to time. One time he was playing Frisbee with several other kids when one boy threw it too high and it got caught between the branches of a tall tree. The other children were hesitant to climb the tree and retrieve it, but Alfred ran to the front exclaiming loudly.

"Climbing a tree is no problem for a hero!" And proceeded to climb. However once he reached the Frisbee and threw it back down he noticed he was stuck. The other children went to find an adult to help them. But not minutes after they left the sound of an ice-cream trucks jingle reached his ears. Desperate to get to the truck before it left, he started to climb back down. But he lost his footing and fell to the ground.

He broke his leg that day and his mother confined him to his bed. He grew restless quite easily, after all what kind of hero was he if he couldn't even leave his bed. But he got to eat plenty of ice cream so it wasn't all bad.

As he got older his stockpile of hero collectables dwindled. Though his hero attitude never changed, and although it was strange it also made him quite popular. The girls swooned at his charismatic smile and baby blue eyes. It helped that he was the star player on his schools baseball team. His talent on the field and ability to instantly change a games outcome in their favour soon earned him the nickname Allstar Jones.

He loved his life. Everyday was like a new adventure for him. So when his father announced that he was sending him to England to study, rather than get apprehensive over moving to a new country he became excited at the thought. A new country meant new adventures, and it gave him the opportunity to show the Brits how awesome he was.

The night before he was due to leave his mother threw him a farewell dinner. It was just the usual Hamburger and fries though. But he loved hamburgers more than any other food so he was more than happy. And if his nose wasn't deceiving him it smelled like his mother was baking her famous apple pie. He was going to miss his mothers cooking more than anything while he was away.

"Now I don't have to stress how important it is to befriend Arthur Kirkland. His father can provide me with a lot of support when I start a hotel chain in England." Alfred nodded absently while chewing a rather large piece of his burger. His father had been telling him the same thing for the past month now. He honestly didn't know why he needed this guy Kirklands backing. His father was rich enough to start his hotel empire without a stuffy British guys help. But he guessed it was all about 'connections' or so his father kept repeating like it was his own personal mantra. He never really understood it himself.

"If I can get this sponsor it will really help business. Kirios inc is famous all over the world, with its backing I might be able to open hotels all over the world." His father continued. Alfred was only half listening, it was just the same thing over and over again. He honestly didn't care much. His father intended for him to take over when he was old enough but he just didn't care for business's. He wanted to become a hero, such as a policeman or a fire-fighter or his personal favourite join the military. Saving lives and defending his country that would make him a true hero. Though when he told his father this he just laughed and put it all down to 'the dreams of youth' it was so frustrating, why did he have to take over something he really didn't want to? His father had a brother in Canada who had a son around his age, why couldn't he take over? He certainly shown an interest in running a hotel when he spoke about it with him at the last family reunion.

Seriously adults could be so frustrating sometimes, he was only twelve why did he even need to think about running a business yet?

When dinner was over, and his mother burst into tears because her little man was leaving, he headed up to his room. As soon as he entered the eyes of many superheroes greeted him. He loved his posters, they always made him feel so cool, as if just staring into the faces of the heroes he could become one himself. He had packed a few posters already, he just hoped they were allowed posters in the dorm rooms. He glanced around his room, several bags were packed and stuffed into the corner of his room.

He sighed and practically jumped onto his bed, sprawling somewhat haphazardly. He stared at his ceiling where a large mural of his favourite superhero of all time was painted. Allstar, defender of truth and justice. He stared into the sparkling blue eyes of the superhero who sported a dazzling smile, the kind that if real would have girls swooning over him. When he was younger he always pretended he was Allstar, he eventually grew out of it as he got older and developed an increasingly independent streak but he still knew he really wanted to be his own hero. Maybe not in the _super_ sense, although that would be cool, but someone that the people would count on nonetheless. He knew he could do it, he could defend justice after all he was born on July 4th, independence day. His parents always told him that it was a good omen and he was destined for great things. He smirked at that, of course he was destined for great things, he was just awesome that way.

* * *

The plane ride was boring to say the least. Being in first class only alleviated his boredom by a little. Every few minutes he slumped back in his seat irritably, He had a small personal TV which he flicked through the channels multiple times. There were a couple of films on but one seemed like a boring romance and the other was a equally boring musical. He didn't watch the film long enough to find out what it was about and he didn't want to either. All he saw was a woman running across some hills singing about them, how could ever find that remotely interesting?

After a painfully slow eight hours the captain announced that they would soon be arriving in London. He looked out the window at the ever approaching city below. He felt abit disappointed, he was expecting England's capital city to be as grand as New York, or Washington. But as big cities go it wasn't so bad, looked slightly gloomy though but he assumed this was because of the weather. The sky was a dark grey and the rain fell in a light drizzle, giving the landscape a slightly misty look.

He remembered that when he got off the plane a man named Laurintes or something like that, was meant to meet him. He guessed the guy was foreign with that difficult to pronounce name. But he was a housekeeper at his fathers holiday home in Britain. He was assigned to be Alfred's retainer during his stay in the UK. He had never met the guy but apparently his father seemed to think he was trustworthy enough to entrust his only son to.

After the plane landed and he went through the tedious passport checks he headed to collect his luggage.

Standing by the conveyor belt was a young man holding a sign saying Jones. He made a beeline for him. As he got closer he noticed more features about the man, he was very young, probably not much older than twenty. He had shoulder length mousey brown hair and crystal blue eyes. When the young man caught sight of Alfred he waved and approached him.

"Alfred Jones? I am Toris Laurinaitis, ill be serving you during your stay in England." He had a accent that Alfred couldn't quite place. He sounded European, not that Alfred was ever very good at guessing where people are from by accents alone.

"Great! Do we have time to look around first? Its my first time here, I wanna get loads of pictures!" He held up his digital camera for effect.

"Its getting late young sir, but as long as your not too tired tomorrow ill be glad to take you on a tour of London, but keep in mind you start school the day after."

Alfred felt dejected after spending eight hours alone on the plane he wanted to explore the city he had heard so much about, but he guessed it was getting late.

Toris grabbed a big trolley and set all of Alfred's suitcases onto it. Although Alfred offered to help Toris shook his head telling him it was fine and his job. Toris led Alfred to the car park, where he approached a large shiny black Bentley. Alfred took a moment to admire the car. He never took a lot of interest in cars but even we was wowed by this design.

"it's a vintage 1958 Bentley series S." Toris explained noticing Alfred's fascination with the car. "Although its not the most modern of designs its very comfortable, and its quite a popular wedding car over here in England."

Alfred ran his finger over the smooth surface. His father loved cars, and had quite a collection at home. But he always had a soft spot for British made cars, now Alfred could see why.

The inside was just as lush, mahogany leather seats, wooden headboards. A cocktail table was built into the back of the front seat. Alfred sank into the seat as soon as he sat down. It was so comfy not to mention warm, it was really making him feel sleepy, he felt his eyes start to droop before he fell asleep, head resting against the window.

Toris eventually finished loading the car and climbed into the front seat. He glanced back at Alfred who seemed to have fallen asleep. Chuckling he started the car pulling out of the car park and driving though the busy streets of London.

Alfred opened his eyes tiredly, how long had he been asleep? He glanced out of the window but didn't see anything but darkness.

"Oh your awake? We're driving through the countryside, not much to see now but its beautiful during the day. I don't know how much you've been told but we're staying at your fathers cottage, Your parents sometimes stay here when they visit England but want to stay somewhere quiet. I'm the housekeeper there, I live there all year round. But if theres anything I can do for you don't hesitate to ask."

"I thought I was staying in London?" Toris laughed lightly.

"Your going to school in London, you'll be boarding there most of the school year. But during certain public holidays you'll be stopping here." Alfred nodded absently. He never been to a school that had its own dorms before. He wondered if he would have to share with anyone.

"I have another question, where are you from?" Toris glanced at him from the front view mirror.

"Lithuania." He responded. Alfred blinked a few times.

"Where's that?" Toris chuckled amusedly.

"I'm used to people not knowing where it is, it's a northern European country." Alfred tried to recall all the European countries he knew of, but found out he couldn't think of many, Geography was never his best subject. He settled back down in his seat staring out of the window.

He could just make out the dark outlines of trees by the side of the road and occasionally another car would pass them, but other than that it was quite deserted. Alfred shifted uncomfortably. It was kind of spooky, it seemed like the perfect setting for a ghost story, or an urban myth.

Eventually he noticed some lights in the distance. Toris pulled into a driveway leading to a big yet cosy looking cottage. He climbed out of the car and stared at the building in front of him as Toris busied himself with Alfred's luggage.

It was a very modern looking home, with brick walls and a tiled roof. Leaves were covering the whole side of the house, looking as if they were trying to swallow the cottage. It seemed that Toris took very good care of the garden, there were planted pots placed around the side of the perimeter.

Toris walked ahead and unlocked the door, beckoning Alfred to enter. Alfred stepped into the house and glanced around. The front door led straight into the living room. The walls were all whitewashed and the floor was made of polished wood. There were a couple of dark chocolate coloured leather sofas and one large armchair surrounding a small wooden coffee table. In the far corner was a stone fireplace and a basket full of logs sat next to it.

"If you go upstairs your room is the door to the left. You have an en-suite bathroom, but there is also a toilet downstairs if you need to use it." Toris motioned towards the hallway just past the living room. Alfred headed towards the stairs at the end. He glanced into all rooms as he went. There was a kitchen and dining room combined to his right, and what seemed to be a study to his left. There was a door just beyond the stairs with what he assumed was the toilet.

Upstairs led to a narrow corridor with only three rooms. He went into the one to his left as he was told.

His room was quite plain. The wallpaper was ivory and the carpet a royal blue. A wardrobe and chest of drawers were set up on the far side of the room and on the other a small four poster bed with a small bedside table on either side. Other than a few decorations such as the large mirror planted on the wall and a large potted plant the room was quite bare. Alfred was itching to hang up his posters on the wall, but he guessed he wasn't staying in this room for long, might as well save the posters for school.

He sat on the end of his bed. Although the cottage was quite pretty, it was so boring. He hoped that London was more lively, otherwise he would die from boredom.

* * *

Albert smiled charmingly at the waitress as she led him to his table. Along the way she kept shooting him shy glances. She shown him to a table located in the VIP area, where each table was spread out, perfect for private conversations, as long as you were reasonably quiet.

Albert noted there was always one noisy fool in the VIP lounge, someone who loved to hear the sound of his own voice. Always going on about his accomplishments loud enough for the whole restaurant to hear. It was boring, tiring and showed how insecure the person was. The truly powerful people didn't need to show off.

He barely glanced at the wine list before ordering himself a French red wine he was quite fond of. The waitress brought it out to him somewhat keenly. He stared at her as she pored him a glass.

"Thank you my dear." he purred. The waitress blushed, she wasn't very attractive. Albert would call her plain at best. But these kind of people rarely received any kind of attention from anyone, she was so used to being ignored the fact that she was being thanked by this handsome man was enough to make her mind feel like mush.

Just then a man looking so much like him, but younger and infinitely more innocent approached the table. James Kirkland, Albert's younger brother. Apart from the fact his face was slightly more round than his brother and his eyes held none of his brothers coldness they could be twins. His blond hair was combed back neatly and his baby blue eyes seemed to clash with his otherwise serious appearance. He sat down without a word and ordered a glass of white wine to be brought over.

Albert smirked. James always had to be the complete opposite of him, even something as trivial as ordering wine, it was quite cute really.

"So what did you want to see me about Albert?" He asked somewhat stiffly. The two brothers relationship had always been rocky. When Albert called him asking him to meet him for dinner he was instantly suspicious.

"Hello to you too James. I almost think your not happy to see me." He was bating him, and Albert knew he wouldn't react, James always tried to be calm around Albert and it was amusing though somewhat juvenile to try and see how much his brother could take before snapping.

"Its actually about your new student." James raised his eyebrow at this.

"You mean the American, Alfred Jones?" Albert nodded.

"That's the one. I want to make sure he shares a room with Arthur." James eyebrows raised even further at this.

"May I ask why?" Though he wasn't expecting a straight answer.

"You may, His father as you should know if you keep track of your own students backgrounds, owns a very large chain of hotels in America and Canada, He's looking to open a chain here in England. Of course opening a business in another country is risky. So he is looking for a company to sponsor him."

"And if you sponsor him you get a cut of his profits." James finished.

"Correct, 35% actually, his son is going to study here at your school so how perfect will it be if he became friends with Arthur?"

So it was all about money. It was a shame that both these boys were being used in their fathers business games, but they weren't the first and they certainly wouldn't be the last. Still he was surprised his brother would receive 35% that seemed like a bit much. But he didn't bother to ask, his bother never spoke about his company with him. James couldn't shake of the itching feeling there was more to it than just sponsors.

"35%? Seems like a lot of money." Albert chuckled unpleasantly.

"Robert Jones is quite a business man, he knows a good deal when he sees one." James waited for Albert to finish, but he never said anything more. James knew there was an ulterior motive somewhere, but it looked like his brother wasn't going to share said motive with him.

"I'm sure I can arrange something. Arthur has a room to himself so It wont be difficult to move Alfred in with him." He sighed. He learned long ago to go along with his brother, no matter how much he disliked it.

"Good I knew I could count on you _Little brother."_ He said little brother with as much venom as he could muster. James grimaced Arthur had better make sure he became friends with Alfred, he hated to think what would happen if he disappointed his father. Just thinking about it made him feel very sorry for his nephew, very sorry indeed.

* * *

**A/N: Well thats both the main characters introduced, so now the story can move onwards! All reviews and faves are appreciated :)**

**Also if anyone is willing to beta this fic or even knows someone who will please let me know. So far my friend and boyfriend have been checking for spelling or grammer mistakes but sometimes it best to have a stranger go over your story. So if anyones interested just PM me!**


	3. And so they meet

**Chapter 3**

**And so they meet**

Kiku Honda sat outside the headmaster's office looking somewhat apprehensive. That morning a teacher approached him and told him the headmaster wanted to see him. He wasn't told what it was about however. He didn't think he was in trouble, he couldn't recall doing anything wrong, and his grades were average at worst. He looked up at the secretary busy typing away on her typewriter.

Her name was Mrs Matrons, no one knew her first name. There was a popular rumour floating around that she's older than the school itself, some say that the school was actually built around her. Indeed she looked as ancient as the rumours indicated. She was very pale and thin, with a long hooked nose. Kiku had heard of western witches and all pictures he had seen of said witches, Mrs Matrons seemed to fit the bill exactly.

"The headmaster is ready to see you now." She said in her croaky voice. Kiku guessed she smoked a lot when she was younger, making it even more surprising she was still alive.

He approached the elaborate oak door and knocked before entering.

The headmaster's office was a typical headmaster's office, oak wood panelling's on the walls and a plush viridian carpet. A large oak desk stood in the middle and sat in front of it was an unfamiliar boy.

The boy had slightly floppy blond hair and azure eyes that seemed to sparkle with a youthful vigour.

"Good morning Kiku." The headmaster greeted him. "This is Alfred Jones. He will be in most of your classes. Id like you to escort him around until he gets used to the school." Kiku bowed slightly.

"Yes headmaster." He glanced at Alfred who was beaming at him. He seemed like a very cheerful person.

"He's sharing a room with Arthur Kirkland, so if you could get Arthur to show him where his dorm room is?" He turned to Alfred. "We'll have your luggage taken to your room."

"Thank you sir."

After handing Alfred his timetable he motioned for them to leave.

"So your Japanese?" Alfred asked as soon as they left the office.

"That is correct, my name is Honda Kiku Jones-san." Alfred cocked his head to the side, a confused expression on his face.

"San?" Kiku inwardly flinched. He had moved to England over a year ago but still couldn't stop using Japanese honorific's, it certainly confused a lot of westerners.

"It is Japanese, by western standards it would mean Mr or Mrs." He explained. Alfred straitened up again, sporting his huge grin.

"Oh I see, cool. But you can call me Alfred if you want." Kiku snapped his head up.

"But we have just-"

Alfred laughed loudly.

"Right so ill just call you Honda, that's your first name right? Ive never been good with foreign names." Kiku shifted uncomfortably.

"No my last name is Honda, but since we have just met surely it is improper to-" He was cut off once again by Alfred who continued with his infectious laughter.

"Right so it's Kiku, well Kiku lets go! Don't wanna be late during my first day." With that he seemed to bounce off down the hallway. Kiku stood there dazed for a moment.

_He certainly is very energetic._

Although he tried to adapt to English culture as much as possible he still found it hard at times, but people usually respected his culture. And calling people by their first name when they just met was something that was hard for him to accept. But this Alfred didn't seem the type who would listen. In fact he seemed the type to march to the beat of his own drum. It was strange but at the same time refreshing. He wondered if Alfred would fit into the school. Although it had its fair share of eccentric characters it mainly housed students who were rich or had managed to get in by scholarship. Because of its prestige all the students held a certain sense of decorum and as such didn't go around with brash attitudes or running around the hallways like a five year old with a sugar high. Kiku almost groaned. He could sense this Alfred was going to be a lot of work.

Arthur was sat at his desk tapping his pen on the hard wooden surface absentmindedly. As usual the teacher was late and the class took advantage of this fact. Most people were chatting away while a few threw a small rubber ball back and forth across the class. One of the students was drawing some very crude pictures on the blackboard, and a few like Arthur just sat silently at their desks waiting for the teacher to arrive and put a stop to this anarchy.

Just then the door opened and within seconds the whole class resumed their seats sitting up straight as if nothing had happened.

Instead of their teacher entering the room, the Japanese exchange student Kiku Honda walked in, closely followed by an unfamiliar boy. Arthur's interest perked up instantly. He assumed it must be Alfred Jones.

The whole class remained silent, observing the new guy as if he was a piece of meat at a market. Rather than be disturbed by the stares, Alfred confidently followed Kiku to a desk situated near the back of the room.

After what seemed like an age the class started to carry on in its mindless chatter. Arthur continued to observe Alfred who was currently talking rather animatedly with Kiku. Well, he seemed to do all the talking, Kiku looked a bit bewildered. Just then Alfred looked up slightly and caught sight of Arthur. He grinned broadly at him before turning back to the Japanese student. So this was the boy he was supposed to befriend. He seemed somewhat forceful, and loud. Even above the rest of the rowdy students he could hear him easily. Great so he was your typical loud American.

He was interrupted from his thoughts by the classroom door opening again, this time their teacher Mr Edelstein walked briskly into the room. He stood behind his desk and glanced around the room, observing each student.

"As I'm sure you've all noticed we have a new student." Once again all students eye's turned to Alfred once again observing him. At this Alfred stood up.

"I'm Alfred Jones pleased to meet you all, I just moved here from America and so far England seems like a pretty cool place, even if you don't have baseball and Twinkies. I like playing baseball and watching movies, my favourite kinds are action or anything with superhero's in." After his speech he sat back down and looked at the teacher expectantly.

Mr Edelstein continued to stare at the confident American for a minute before clearing his throat.

"Thank you Mr Jones for that impressive if slightly unnecessary speech." He said as he pulled out the class register and started to read off the names written on it.

Within minutes of Mr Edelstein calling the last name on the register the bell rang throughout the school, signalling the start of the first period.

Alfred gathered his stuff but noticed someone was standing in front of his desk. He looked up and noticed the same boy who was staring at him before was now right in front of him. He wore an unreadable expression on his face and seemed to be studying Alfred intently.

"Hi." He greeted. The boy held out his hand.

"Arthur Kirkland, I'm pleased to finally meet you." He said in his thick British accent.

_Ah this is the guy I need to get on his good side, man look at those eyebrows…..like caterpillars. Oh right need to shake his hand. Shake hands? How old does he think he is? I thought only old fogies shook hands._

"Alfred F Jones. Likewise." He took his hand and gave it a rather unsure shake. "Iv'e heard about you, your uncle is the headmaster right? He looks a lot like you."

_Especially with those eyebrows, is that a family inheritance? Snap out of it Alfred, don't get distracted._

Shaking his thoughts off rather quickly he gave Arthur one of his best dazzling smiles.

"Well lets have lunch together. You can tell me all about England, seems pretty interesting so far."

"Of course, now if you'll excuse me its time for class to start." With that Arthur turned on his heel and strode out of the room. Alfred watched him leave before turning to Kiku.

"He seems a bit stuffy." He stated. Kiku shifted slightly.

"He is very proper, but its to be expected. Now Jones-san it appears as if we have maths first, please, this way." Alfred followed Kiku out of the room and down the corridor.

_Is it me or does every kid in this school talk like an adult?_

Kiku was silent, and it made Alfred feel slightly uncomfortable. He used the silence however to examine his surroundings.

The hallways were painted in a rich green, with wood panelling lining the bottom half of the walls. The wooden floors were a deep mahogany and looked very pristine, as if they were recently laid down. Every now and then they passed marble statues that seemed to resemble angels.

"Angels huh? Kind of creepy, feels like their watching me." Kiku turned his head to get a better look at his charge.

"They are the guardians of the school, they have been here since the school was founded. There are various stories surrounding them, the most popular one is that every night at midnight the statues come alive for one hour searching the halls for any troublemakers." Alfred instantly felt all of his hairs stand on end.

"What? No way that's not true right!" He asked somewhat panicked. Kiku gave him a surprised look.

"Jones-san there is no reason to be scared it is just a story." Alfred immediately laughed heartily.

"I'm not scared, it takes more than that to scare me you know!" He practically shouted, gaining quite a few stares from passing students. Kiku nodded somewhat bewilderedly. He decided it was best not to tell Alfred all the ghost stories about the school. After all it had its fair share.

The morning went by quite quickly. Arthur headed straight to the dining hall keeping an eye out for Alfred as he went. He heard the American student before he even saw him.

Alfred was sitting in the far corner surrounded by a small group of students, chatting away quite enthusiastically.

"So then He managed to get to the timer in time, but not before stopping the missiles with his bare hands." At this all the other boys seemed to enliven.

"Wow American comics are so cool."

"The only comic I've ever read is the Beano."

"I've only read a few comics, but I've never heard of Allstar before. Im going to check it out when I go to the comic shop next."

Comics? They were talking about comics? It seemed so childish, Arthur had never understood the allure of comics, not that he was allowed to read such drivel anyway. Why would anyone want to read some tasteless crudely drawn twaddle such as comic books, when there were many fine literacy to read out there?

"Oh hey Arthur! Have a seat!" Alfred shouted once he noticed Arthur standing nearby, he patted a spot on the bench to his right side, indicating Arthur to join in.

"Don't mind if I do." He answered smiling. He took a seat next to Alfred and the other boy beamed at him.

"I was just telling everyone about Allstar." He stated. Arthur blinked at him.

"Who?" He was guessing it was some over muscled hero from one of his Comics he seemed to love so much.

"Woah! Even you don't know who he is! He's only the coolest Superhero ever! He seems like an ordinary guy most the time, but if he shouts the words '_For America' _He becomes Allstar defender of justice." He said all this quite quickly and it took Arthur a few moments to mull over what he was told.

"I see, you seem to be a big fan of this comic." Alfred snorted at this.

"Only the biggest fan ever! Loved it since I was a kid, used to have a huge collection of Allstar stuff, till my mum made me get rid of some of it, said it was a fire hazard or something along those lines." Arthur nodded not really that interested. He looked up and noticed Kiku was sitting opposite Alfred, wearing a very tired expression on his face. His gaze met with Arthur's and he just stared at him for a second before sighing, as if saying '_I've had to put up with this all morning.'_

Arthur excused himself stating he was going to get some lunch, when he reached the queue he was surprised to see Kiku right behind him.

"Jones-san wanted to try some pudding, I have offered to buy some for him." He stated in a slightly monotone voice.

Arthur had never spoken much with Kiku. Although they both got on well enough when they did. Kiku was always very formal and polite and Arthur admired that about him. He almost felt sorry for the other lad, it was so obvious putting up with that brash American was taking its toll on him.

"So what is Alfred like? He seems to be fitting in very well."

"So far he appears to be a nice person, even if he is-" The Asian student paused for a bit, obviously trying to find a suitable word. "Eccentric." Arthur chuckled.

"Yes but I find most American's are like that, wouldn't you agree?" Kiku glanced over at him a wary expression on his face.

"I suppose, but is it not true that every nation has its faults?" Arthur finished choosing his lunch, deciding on a tuna pasta, and waited for Kiku while he studied the various puddings on offer. He eventually picked a treacle sponge. "After all no one is perfect Kirkland-san"

Arthur just shrugged in response, neither agreeing or disagreeing with that statement.

Back at the table Alfred seemed eager once he saw the pudding Kiku had brought him.

"Thanks! Looks…sticky. But what the hey I'll try it." He gathered a huge bit of the sponge cake onto his spoon and stuck the whole thing into his mouth while making a loud _OM _sound. The whole table except Arthur watched him as if expecting something amazing to happen.

"Bit sweet, but its not bad I guess." The other boys laughed and began shoving their desserts in front of Alfred, telling him he should try theirs as it was much better.

Arthur ate his lunch in silence, not that he could of gotten many words in over the rabble anyway while Alfred told the whole table about his life in America. How he used to be the star player for his schools baseball team, how this old lady who lived down the road from him used to make the best pies in the world, and various other in Arthur's opinion, useless trivialities. Arthur only halved listened, while others stared at Alfred as if he was the best thing since sliced bread.

After he finished Arthur offered to show Alfred around the grounds, which Alfred seemed eager to explore.

"Hey Kiku, your coming too right?" Kiku shook his head.

"I'm sorry Jones-san but I have some homework to finish, I will see you after lunch, I believe we all have history then."

"Oh okay." Alfred sounded quite dejected but followed Arthur nonetheless.

Along the way they chatted about various things, mainly it consisted of Alfred asking about the school. Arthur did his best to explain but to his irritation found that Alfred was easily distracted. Every time he started to explain one thing Alfred would notice something that caught his interest, such as a weird looking statue or he stopped to make fun of various portraits of previous headmasters.

"Those are my ancestors your laughing at." He stated rather indignantly.

"But look at those eyebrows, seriously is that a family trait or something? I mean even you have pretty crazy brows" At this Arthur slapped his hand over his eyebrows, his face turning an impressive shade of red.

"There is nothing wrong with my eyebrows." He said quite offended. He had always felt quite insecure about his eyebrows, but because of his family status people tended not to insult him about them, so who did this infuriating Yank think he was?

"Hey its cool, they actually kinda suit you." Alfred said rather quickly, obviously realising he went too far.

They carried off down the corridor in an awkward silence, till they reached a rather grand wooden arch which lead into a beautiful courtyard.

There were various trees situated around the enclosure creating plenty of shade. A stone path that went around the yard in a square pattern with several stone benches lining the pathway. A small rose garden grew in every corner and it was obvious just by looking they were very well tended to. There was a small fountain in the middle of a chubby little child holding an urn over his shoulders. Water gushed out and into the shallow pond beneath it. Overall the effect of the mini garden was quite stunning.

"Wow." Was all Alfred seemed to be able to say, he walked out and began looking around with wonder.

"Its not that impressive, not when you compare it to the rose gardens." Arthur called. This seemed to snap Alfred out of his trance.

"I just think it looks nice is all, so wha-" Alfred was interrupted by the bell signalling lunch was over.

"You have history as well right? Come on I'll show you where to go."

So far Alfred wasn't sure if he like Arthur yet. He did seem a bit stiff and moody. But then again he had only just met him, but although he offered to have lunch with him he didn't really join in any of the conversations. Then again maybe he didn't like big crowds. Alfred was surprised when he sat down for lunch, a large group of fellow students joined him, immediately introducing themselves and asking him various questions about life in America. At first he was pleased that so many people seemed friendly at this school, but now when he looked back on it he wondered if it was all genuine.

His father always lectured him on the importance of connections, informing him they can be necessary to make your business grow even more. Indeed the main reason he was enrolled at this school was so he could become friendly with the heir to Kirios inc. It seemed unfair he was being used as a pawn for his father to expand his empire, but it was unlikely he was the only one. He began to believe the only reason people were friendly with him was because he was heir to a large empire himself, and those other kids were just being friendly because their fathers had ordered them to.

That thought made him feel a little bit sad. The only reason anyone spoke to him was because of his father. He wondered if it was the same for Arthur as well. After all not only was his father owner of one of, if not the biggest companies in the world, but his family owned the very school he was currently attending. He must be surrounded by phoneys everyday. If that was the case than he felt quite sorry for the other boy. Then again, Arthur seemed all respectable and courteous, but it did seem almost forced. Perhaps he was just as fake as the others who sat with him during lunch. His suspicions were confirmed however when a small group of boys passed Arthur, they seemed very young and meek, their uniforms not quite as pristine as the rest of the student body, Alfred suspected they were scholarship students. As they passed Arthur the one who appeared to be the leader gave him an almost timid smile, and Arthur walked passed him as if he wasn't even there. Alfred knew he must of seen him, and frowned disapprovingly at his companion.

Arthur must have noticed him glaring because he turned to face him, eyes widening for a fraction of a second before narrowing suspiciously.

"Is something the matter?" Alfred's head shot up.

"Oh nothing." Alfred shifted slightly. "I was just wondering, what do you think of the people in this school?

Arthur looked surprised, obviously not expecting such a random question.

"Well, their all respectable enough, unfortunately there a few riffraff, but I suppose that's inevitable wherever you go."

"Another thing I was wondering, why do you talk like that?" Arthur raised an eyebrow, clearly irritated.

"Talk like what." He asked snappishly.

"Like your better than everyone else, I've seen the way you look at other people, its like their not even worth giving the time of day too. " Alfred knew he was being blunt, but he wanted to know if the other youth was really yet another fake, someone who only acted all prim and proper to manipulate others for their own gains. If that happened to be the case then Alfred didn't care how badly his father wanted this sponsorship, he wouldn't bring himself down to their level, he would never manipulate another, it was just so, unheroic.

"There is nothing wrong with the way I talk, my family is one of the most respectable families in the whole of England, it is only proper that I speak befitting of my status. Whereas you on the other hand speak like the hick you are." As soon as he finished his sentence, Arthur's face paled. Alfred guessed he was a bit more honest then he would of liked to have been.

"I'm sorry that was uncalled for." He muttered. He seemed to be internally kicking himself.

"Don't worry about it, I guess I was pretty rude as well."

Arthur nodded curtly before continuing down the corridor.

"We'll be late, lets go."

That bloody infuriating yank, who did he think he was? Attacking him for being haughty when he was nothing but an arrogant loudmouth. He had to endure the America talk about nothing but himself and his home country during lunch. _He_ was the one who thought he was better than everyone else, with that holier than thou attitude of his. As for himself, he _knew_ he was better than everyone else, and not just because of his social status and wealth, after all not every great person had the luck to be born into a prestigious family, but because he worked hard to excel in everything he did. He was expected to be perfect and so he made sure to be perfect in everything.

Where most boys his age would waste their days doing frivolous activities he studied relentlessly. Where most boys would give up at the slightest hint of hard work, he pushed himself to succeed.

He worked hard to be the best and he wouldn't have some pig headed American insult him. Oh if only his father didn't want him to befriend the stupid prick then he could have ignored him the same way he ignored the other nobodies.

He glanced behind him at the said prick trailing behind him, he seemed to have not noticed the now rather tense atmosphere as he was again smiling in that idiotic way of his. Either that or he couldn't care less what Arthur thought of him, that thought just served to fuel his anger more. But he wouldn't retaliate, that would just be juvenile, no there were other ways to get back at someone, and if Alfred dared to insult him again, well, he would show him how a gentleman fights back.

* * *

**A/N: Well their not off to a good start eh? Anyway hope you enjoyed ;) **


	4. Annoying foreigners and Stuffy Brits

Arthur spent the rest of the day avoiding Alfred. He realised that he would eventually have to befriend the cretin; he just couldn't bear to be around him any more; not until he composed himself somewhat. Everything about Alfred just irritated him, and he knew if he hung around him much longer he would snap and do something he would regret. Fate seemed to mock him; however, as that night when he retired to his dorm he was met with none other than Alfred Jones.

Alfred was busy unpacking some clothes and various comics from the large trunk at the bottom of his bed. He glanced up upon hearing the door open; gave Arthur a rather lopsided grin and carried on unpacking. He inwardly cursed, of course he would have to share a room with that arrogant Yank. His thoughts were interrupted; however, when he felt someone practically jump onto his back, nearly toppling him over.

"Oh, a new person, ve~!"

Arthur stood up and brushed himself off; he glared at the new person who had entered the room, his other roommate, Feliciano Vargas.

"Pleased to meet you, I'm Feliciano," he greeted Alfred rather enthusiastically. Alfred looked at the newcomer with mild bewilderment before he managed a wide grin.

"Alfred F. Jones, pleased to meet you too. So are you my roommate?"

"Ve~!" Arthur assumed that meant yes.

He made an irritated noise and wandered over to his bed. It had been noisy enough when he had to share the room with just Feliciano, but now he had two loud idiots to deal with.

He changed into his nightclothes and glanced over at the two foreigners. They were rapidly talking to each other; Arthur felt it was hard to follow what they were saying, though he did hear the odd word such as pasta and hamburgers. He assumed they were discussing their favourite foods.

He usually tended to avoid Feliciano, it wasn't that he hated the Italian; he was just too energetic for his liking. Besides, he usually hung around with his own group of friends.

Though that's not to say he didn't bother to not find out anything about his roommate. Feliciano's grandfather was a famous painter, who had produced many great art before his untimely death. It seemed his grandson had inherited his talent. Even Arthur was amazed by any artwork that Feliciano made.

He climbed into his bed and curled up. He heard Alfred and Feliciano change and get into their own beds.

"And tomorrow you can meet my friends, Ludwig and Kiku. Oh, and of course, my big brother, Lovino!"

"I know Kiku, we're friends already."

"That's great, ve~. Tomorrow, have lunch with us; you can try some of my pasta dishes. Do you want to join us, Arthur?"

Arthur looked over in Feliciano's direction, who was smiling cheerfully at him. He opened his mouth, ready to tell Feliciano he was busy when he stopped himself. If Alfred was tagging along, then it made sense to also hang around with Feliciano's friends. Despite how he felt about them; he was here mainly to make connections for his father.

"Of course, Its high time we started to spend some time together."

Feliciano beamed at him while Alfred raised a sceptical eyebrow, Arthur pretended not to notice; instead he bid his two roommates goodnight and rolled over, falling asleep minutes later.

Alfred didn't know what Arthur was up to, even he could sense the other boy didn't like him much. Not that Alfred cared, he didn't think much of the stuck up Brit, himself.

He found that he did like Feliciano and Kiku, however. Feliciano was bubbly and friendly even if he was a bit absent-minded. Kiku also seemed genuinely nice, though Alfred found him too shy and formal at times.

At lunch, Feliciano eagerly introduced him to his "best friend in the whole wide world, Ludwig". Alfred was a bit surprised upon meeting Ludwig; he was the polar opposite to Feliciano. While Feliciano was small and skinny, Ludwig was tall and well built for his age. He also seemed very serious; he only greeted Alfred with a curt nod. Alfred soon found out more about Ludwig. He was born and raised in Germany, he also had an older half brother who attends the school. (And apparently, was quite notorious.) This was all Alfred could coax out of him until Feliciano mentioned that he loves baking sweets, especially cakes. This caused Ludwig's face to redden and he started shouting at Feliciano to know when to keep his mouth shut.

"They're always like this," someone muttered into his ear.

He turned to the side and noticed Arthur had taken a seat next to him. He had forgotten that Arthur was invited to sit with them at lunch.

Kiku watched over his two friends rather uncomfortably, while Arthur looked quite irritated. Alfred quite happily watched them argue; it didn't seem serious anyway.

It remained quite noisy throughout lunch; Feliciano and Alfred did most of the talking. Alfred noticed that, like yesterday, Arthur didn't really talk to anyone, the possible exception was Kiku, who leant over every now and then and engaged him in conversation.

After everybody finished, they decided to wander around the school grounds until lunch was over. Feliciano suggested showing Alfred the flower beds located in the gardens. Alfred never had much interest in flowers but agreed anyway.

Not seconds after they stepped outside, the group heard a commotion just around the corner from where they were standing. They rushed towards the ruckus and saw a large crowd surrounding two boys, one; a rather pug faced, aggressive looking boy, pushing a rather scared looking boy in the chest nearly sending him sprawling to the ground.

Alfred glanced at the crowd, most of them were cheering while a few looked nervous, as if not quite sure if they should step in to help or not.

Without thinking twice about it Alfred rushed forward, tackling the aggressive looking boy to the ground. The crowd stilled, not expecting anyone else to jump in.

"What the-!" the lad cried. He turned his head to look at his attacker, there was an intense look of hatred on his face. He swung his arm back, nearly hitting Alfred in the side of his head, but Alfred managed to move out the way in time. His knuckles barely brushed the side of his face. "Oh, you're in for it now. I'll teach you to mind your own business." The pug faced boy lunged at Alfred, his fists raised ready to unleash a series of blows upon his victim.

Alfred waited until the last possible moment before ducking, narrowly avoiding the fist. His attacker stumbled slightly and Alfred saw his chance. He delivered a swift uppercut to the boy's jaw. The other boy yelped in pain staggering back, nursing his jaw.

Alfred almost whooped in triumph. Although he had trained in a few fighting techniques, mainly boxing, he had never been in a proper fight before now. However he knew he was quite strong for his size so that gave him an advantage. He guessed that the other male would suffer from at least a swollen jaw for the next few days. At least he would think twice before bullying someone again.

As he got ready for the next attack he heard a loud thud behind him. He spun round and noticed another boy sprawled on the ground. With Ludwig standing over him.

"Thought I would even the odds," he simply told Alfred. He guessed that the boy on the ground was about to attack him from behind and Ludwig didn't think that was very sporting. Well, he attacked his opponent from behind as well, but he was fighting for the right reasons so he forgave himself.

"What is going on here!"

Alfred turned to the sound of the voice, noticing his stern looking form teacher Mr. Edelstein marching towards them.

"Mr. Hills, are you fighting again? Come on, you're going to the headmaster's office. As for you, Mr. Jones," he said turning on Alfred, "you may be new, but fighting is not tolerated in this school; consider this your first and final warning." He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and then turned to the crowd.

"Well, why is everyone standing around? Class will begin in a few minutes; go on, off with you all."

The crowd soon scattered. Mr. Edelstein began to head back into the building; a rather sullen looking Hills was in tow.

Alfred barely suppressed a sigh of relief. When he saw the teacher coming over he was sure that he would be in a lot of would never hear the end of it from his father, if he had gotten in trouble for doing what was right.

The nervous looking boy uttered his thanks upon Alfred before collecting his fallen bag and running off towards the school.

"You were lucky; most people would have at least got a detention. Must be nice to be the new student," came Arthur's snide voice.

Alfred wasn't quite sure if Arthur was being sarcastic or not, but he guessed he was. Rather then rise to his subtle taunts he chose to completely ignore Arthur, something the Brit didn't seem to appreciate.

"Thanks for the backup," he told Ludwig.

Ludwig nodded curtly in response. "I don't believe in unfair fights," he said.

After saying that he turned to Feliciano, muttered something to him and promptly walked away. Feliciano seemed to falter slightly, as if unsure if he should follow or not. He turned to Alfred eventually, with a small smile on his face. "That was cool. You're really strong, Alfred. But me and Ludwig need to go meet some friends, so I'll see you later, ve~!"

With that Alfred found himself alone with Arthur and Kiku.

"Why did you just jump into that fight," Arthur suddenly asked. Alfred turned to face him expecting to see Arthur sporting a derisive expression on his face. Instead he was shocked to find his expression was more curious then anything.

"Well, it was the right thing to do," he announced proudly.

Arthur regarded him for a moment, looking like he was itching to say more, but in the end, simply shrugged and started to walk away. "The bell will ring in a few minutes; you almost got in trouble for fighting, the last thing you need is to get in trouble for being late." With that he left his two companions.

Alfred and Kiku stood in silence till Arthur completely disappeared from their sights.

"He's kinda weird, isn't he?" he asked, breaking the silence.

Kiku glanced over at him, before averting his eyes to the spot where Arthur had disappeared from. "I cannot say that I know him enough to make a judgment. However, I believe Kirkland-san is simply very proud; as is most of his people. So he can sometimes come across as-"

"Bigheaded?" Alfred finished the sentence for him.

"I-I guess." Kiku flinched at Alfred's conclusion. "However, you will find everyone here is strange at times. I am sure many people find my ways strange," He stopped himself before adding that everyone would find the Alfred strange; it would have been unnecessarily rude.

"Yeah. Like the way you keep calling people San, or that you're super polite." He then burst out in raucous laughter.

Kiku suddenly looked downtrodden. It seemed that while he refrained from insulting people, Alfred had no qualms about doing so. Though he surmised the American didn't say it to be mean; the boy spoke without thinking beforehand.

Their conversation was interrupted by the bell, signalling that lunch was over. Alfred bid Kiku goodbye and headed off towards one of the side buildings, which he was sure held all the science labs.

He wondered what science class was like in England. He had overheard some older kids talking about setting part of the text books on fire using Bunsen burners earlier. He had never used a Bunsen burner before; he couldn't wait, it sounded awesome. He guessed it probably wouldn't do him any good to get in trouble for setting stuff on fire this early on in his school life.

Oh, well, if anyone says anything I'll just say it was an accident, he thought to himself.

Arthur was listening to everything his teacher said with rapt attention. Which was more then could be said for the other students. Several (mainly the ones sitting in the back) were quietly chatting away. A few others were doodling in their books, and the rest varied from looking like they were trying to stay awake and listen to the teacher (they were failing miserably), and others who had seemed to have just fallen asleep.

Arthur resisted the urge to scoff at the rest of the class. He didn't understand it; here they were in one of the most prestigious schools in England, with some of the best teachers from around the world, a school many parents would kill to get their own children into, and they were taking it all for granted. Arthur told himself time and again not to care; it was their own future that they were putting in jeopardy. Though if many students failed, it would look bad for his uncle. Although he wasn't particularly close to his uncle, he still respected him.

He was torn from his musings when the door swung open; he glanced over to the doorway, and inwardly flinched when he saw who it was.

Alfred Jones stood there, in the doorway, with a rather stupid, lopsided grin on his face.

"Sorry I'm late!" he announced much more loudly then was necessary., "I couldn't find the classroom."

The teacher regarded him for a moment.

"It's no trouble Mr…. who are you now?"

Alfred marched over to the teacher's desk. "Alfred Jones. It said I was in this class." He waved his timetable in front of the teacher's face.

The aging teacher stared down at the class register, squinting slightly.

"Ah, so you are, so you are. Let's see, who to sit you next to." The teacher glanced around the class, eyeing each empty seat. Arthur glanced at the seat next to him, and noticed it was empty. He crossed both fingers underneath his desk, hoping that Alfred wouldn't be seated next to him.

"Ah, take the seat next to Mr. Kirkland there."

Arthur felt like slamming his head on the desk, it took every ounce of will that he had not to; it just wouldn't be proper. He glanced up and noticed Alfred trudging his way over; a rather disappointed look was on his face. This only irked Arthur all the more. The Stupid Yank could have, at least, tried to hide his annoyance like he did.

Alfred dumped his bag underneath the desk and stared determinedly at the teacher, who began droning on about photosynthesis. Arthur was only half listening; he was too busy watching Alfred, who, apparently, became too bored and began drawing cartoon faces in his textbook; the cartoons were rather badly drawn ones at that.

He couldn't believe it; he hadn't even been in the class for five minutes and, already, he was getting distracted. He shook his head in disgust and turned back to the teacher.

The lesson dragged on for what seemed like hours until, finally, the bell reverberated throughout the classroom, jolting several students to awareness.

"Hey, what class have you got next?" Alfred asked, turning in his seat to face Arthur.

"English," he answered brusquely, packing his books into his bag, not even looking at Alfred.

Alfred regarded him a moment as if he was deep in thought. "Me too, can you show me where it is.?" he asked with as much politeness as he could muster. Despite how he felt about the English boy, he was supposed to become friends with him; he only wished he had to befriend someone less snobbish.

Arthur looked up at Alfred as if studying him intently before he smiled a rather forced looking smile.

"Of course," he said, his voice too friendly to be genuine. "Are you with Mrs. Williams as well?"

Alfred nodded, he followed Arthur out of the class and down various corridors.

As they walked in a rather tense silence, he glanced at his companion. Alfred seemed absorbed in his surroundings, looking around with interest.

"How are you settling in?" he asked breaking the silence. Alfred blinked a few times and looked over at Arthur as if he didn't even realise he was there.

"It's ok, some people here are pretty friendly. Though what is there to do around here? I mean, at the weekends and that."

"Well, a lot of students go home for the weekend, though some, particularly the foreign students can't, so we have various activity rooms, and some of the older students can go out for the day since it's only a twenty minute bus journey to the city."

"Cool, I haven't had chance to go to London, yet."

"We won't be able to go out without adult supervision until year ten."

At this Alfred's face fell, he really looked disappointed. Arthur inwardly cringed at the sight; Alfred looked like a kicked puppy, it made him feel bad just watching that expression.

"Well, I go home every weekend, teachers can't do much when you're at home, and as long as your parents give permission, you can come visit my home, we will be able to visit the city then," he explained quickly; he'd do anything to get rid of that forlorn look on Alfred's face.

At this Alfred immediately changed back to his dopey, cheerful look. "Sure, that'll be great, there's loads of places I wanted to see, like Big Ben, and that thing that my dad told me about once, Some tower or something?"

"Oh, the Tower of London? I think you will enjoy that, very well I'll speak to my father, we will most likely get chance to visit the city in a couple of weeks."

Alfred nodded fervently and began taking excitedly to Arthur about all the places he had heard of and wanted to visit.

As they spoke Arthur couldn't help think of Alfred as a big child. The way he got excited over small things, and the way he clearly shown his sadness. It was very innocent and a part of Arthur couldn't help but admire Alfred for being true to himself, even though he was very annoying most of the time. Still, that childlike innocence about him, strangely enough, he found he didn't hate it.

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A/N: Phew finally managed to upload the chapter. This chapter was Beta'd by the lovely ChrisouMiri. Ummm not really much else to add so thanks for reading hope to see you again next time!


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